With physical trade shows unable to take place, GiftsandHome.net has been catching up with suppliers to find out more about their new launches for Spring/Summer.
Luke Felton, Present Time’s country manager for the UK and Ireland, talks about how the company, whose HQ is in The Netherlands, has coped over the past year, as well as what’s new for Spring/Summer.
With lockdown starting to ease, how optimistic are you feeling?
“There’s much to look forward to this year, and if everything goes to plan then I believe it will be a very exciting second half of the year.”
How has Present Time fared during the pandemic?
“I think we all had a scary March/April 2020, but after that, things picked up and we’ve been pleasantly surprised at how resolute and resilient the market has been. In fact, we’ve been consistently 20-30% up month on month. If anything, customers are buying morethan they were before the pandemic.”
Has the pandemic presented the business with any opportunities?
“It’s given us the opportunity to grow and develop our Ecommerce avenues and do better with our lifestyle images. For example, in the absence of trade shows, we launched a virtual showroom on our website. With people significantly investing in their homes, home offices and gardens over the past year, and given that not many people will be going abroad this summer, people who have money will still have money. Therefore I’m hopeful that it will be another good year for the home and giftware sector.”
Can you tell us about your new Spring/Summer launches.
“We have two themes, Artic Air and Elegant Earth. Artic Air features the colours of nature – blues and greens – complemented by materials such as bamboo and black metal. Elegant Earth features warm colours to include ochre yellow and dusty pink, complemented by porcelain and glass making the look and feel very luxurious. This season we have also been very successful with velvet pet sofas which are completely new for us. We brought them in to trial before the pandemic and they sold out. Now sales have gone crazy! Other products that are doing really well include indoor planters and our new range of clocks, with olive green the most popular trend colour.”
Has Brexit been a problem for Present Time?
“Brexit has been more of a challenge than coronavirus by a long way. It’s the biggest change that Present Time has had in the UK since the company started out 30 years ago, when the UK was part of the EU. However, we have found a solution in that we now collate our weekly orders and send them onto a distributor warehouse in the UK who send the order onto the customer. As an importer, we pay the tariffs and we pay the customs charges.The only difference is that there is a longer delivery time. Nevertheless it’s early days and we’re still working through it.”
What advice would you give to retailers getting ready to re-open their stores?
“There are reasons to be optimistic. I believe that there will be a big bounce back when shops re-open, with people wanting to go out and support their local businesses. Therefore I would encourage retailers to be ready and prepared for April 12, because there will be stock issues, and also, to keep up with trends. Retailers we haven’t spoke to for several months are getting in touch with us now, and are asking if they can take stock for April. They are getting ready with their purchasing and starting to spend to get new lines in. In fact, I am amazed at some of the smaller, independent businesses who have turned things round and got used to the new normal by using click and collect. A lot of these retailers have managed to grow, but it remains down to individuals as to whether they decide to change or just sit and wait. Over the past year, the most successful retailers did the right thing at the right time and hit the right market.”
Top: Luke Felton, country manager, Present Time UK and Ireland.
